31 posts from August 2011

Following Tuesday's game, the Phillies optioned reliever Michael Schwimer to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and acquired John Bowker from the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Bowker,a lefty, has appeared in only 19 games this season. He's 4-for-17 with no home runs and two RBIs.

He has spent much of this season in Triple-A. With Indianapolis he batted .306 with 27 doubles, 15 home runs and 76 RBIs in 106 games.

As a pinch-hitter in the majors, Bowker has a .301 (22-73) career average with four doubles, two triples, one home run and 12 RBIs.

In his four-year career, the 28-year-old is hitting .237 (133-for-561) with 17 home runs and 73 RBIs.

Bowker could be the left-handed bat manager Charlie Manuel turns to in the coming weeks, especially considering Ross Gload's struggles.

In his last 28 games (dating back to July 3), Gload, who is battling a hip injury, is hitting only .103 (3-for-29).

Schwimer made three appearances in his brief stint. In 5 innings pitched, he allowed four hits (including one home run), two earned runs and two walks. He struck out five and posted a 3.60 ERA.

Wednesday's announcement will increase the active roster to 25, and if Bowker is indeed the addition, he is expected to be added to the 40-man roster, which if done by Aug. 31, makes him eligible for the postseason. Anyone not on the 40-man by Aug. 31 is not eligible for the playoffs.

If the team wants to add somone to the 40-man, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. needs to move RHP Jose Contreras to the 60-day DL.

Keep in mind...our IronPigs writer, Jeff Schuler, said manager Ryne Sandberg didn't know of a move late Tuesday night and Jeff didn't see anyone packing up like he did a couple weeks ago when Schwimer got called up. That makes it more likely that the Bowker move is accurate.

ON ANOTHER NOTE....Thought this was funny...

According to Ryan Lawrence's (Delaware County Times) Twitter feed ....

To make room for him on the 25-man roster, the club optioned infielder/outfielder Pete Orr to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Hamels, who had been on the DL with left shoulder inflammation, will start tonight's game in Cincinnati, a place where he's had loads of success. The 27-year-old has gone 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA in five career starts at Great American Ball Park, including the complete-game shutout he threw in Game 3 of the NLDS last season.

I'm not expecting the Phillies will get in Saturday's 1:05 game against the Marlins, even though GM Ruben Amaro Jr. emphasized that the last thing they want to do at this point in the season is postpone another they.

They are on tap to play 32 games in 31 days (a doubleheader already scheduled for Sept. 20). That could turn into 33 games in 31 days if Saturday's game is also rained out.

"We’re just trying to do what we can to get the games in," he said.

"When we got the forecast [Thursday], it looked much better yesterday for tomorrow than it’s become. This storm, even in the last couple hours [Friday], it’s gotten worse, which is the reason we ended up canceling the night game [Saturday]. Our original forecast has continued to change. You try to stay ahead of it, but there’s only certain decisions you can make.”

---I heard that Scott Franzke and Tom McCarthy are considering driving, instead of flying, out to Cincinnati.

It's something you may never see again: Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay pitching on the same day in Philadelphia.

Because of Hurricane Irene, the Phillies moved their game on Sunday afternoon to Saturday, and they will now play a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.

Halladay will pitch the 1:05 p.m. game on Saturday. Then, six hours later, Lee will get the ball.

All tickets for Sunday's game will be honored for entry into the Saturday afternoon game. The Cliff Lee Gym Bag giveaway for fans 14 and under (originally scheduled to be given out Sunday afternoon) will be given away at the Saturday afternoon game. All gates, including Ashburn Alley, will open at 11:05 a.m. for the 1:05 p.m. game.

All gates for the night game, including Ashburn Alley, will open at 6:05 p.m.

The Mets scored four unearned runs in the first that the Phillies never fully recovered from in their 7-4 loss at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

The Phils (83-45) had the tying run at plate in the eighth and ninth innings, but the Mets got out of both jams.

Chase Utley walked to lead off the ninth, but Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence both struck out against Bobby Parnell before John Mayberry Jr. worked a walk.

Then brought Carlos Ruiz to the plate. He swung at the first pitch and was retired on a ground ball to the shortstop.

In the eighth, Placido Polanco, who had a hit in each of his first two at-bats, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Phillies, who outhit the Mets 12-11, scored three of their four runs in the second. Shane Victorino cracked a two-run single and Utley added an RBI base hit up the middle. The Phils scored their final run in the seventh on Pence’s infield single.

Everybody’s got a different story about where they were when the earthquake struck just before 2 p.m. Tuesday.

But Vance Worley’s takes the cake.

“I was still sleeping,” he said. “I literally just rolled out of bed. I put my feet on the ground and stood up and that’s when everything started shaking. It was kind of different. I thought, ‘Are they working on this place?’ Then I went on Twitter, and I saw everybody was saying there was an earthquake.”

Here are a couple others stories about what guys were doing:

--Brian Schneider: “Was sitting here (in the clubhouse). The floor was shaking. The lockers. The clothes were shaking a little bit. Lasted about 20-30 seconds. When I was in Montreal we had one, and in the Arizona Fall League.”

--Charlie Manuel: “I was getting ready to go to lunch and it stopped me from eating.”

--Michael Stutes: “I was getting ready (in my apartment in Philly) to come to the field. I was getting dressed. People were running around like crazy. People were pulling their cars to the side of the road. What is that going to do? People around here were making a big deal out of it because it never happens here. It would be like having a hurricane out there in San Francisco. I had a big one in Oregon when I was a little kid. You had to hold on to stand up. Today, I was just getting drafts. I was talking with my girlfriend, and she was like, ‘What’s this?’ I said, ‘It’s an earthquake.’ We just waited a few seconds and it was over.”

OSWALT ON THE RUN

This hitting contest between the pitchers has gotten so intense that Roy Oswalt needed to find himself a new bat.

Here's the kicker: It's not his.

I was standing on the dugout steps Tuesday when Oswalt asked if he could borrow my pen.

I handed it over, only to watch him turn the No. 11 on the bottom of the bat to a No. 44.

That's right....he made the black No. 11 transform to his number.

"So, you're stealing Jimmy's bat?" I said.

"Yep. I was hitting good with it, so now I'm keeping it," he said with a big smirk.

In all seriousness, he told Rollins he was keeping the bat, and Rollins certainly didn't mind.

Charlie Manuel said before Monday's game that they're going to keep their eye on Placido Polanco, and the manager hasn't ruled out playing Polly a couple days and then resting him.

But Polly didn't seem enthralled with that idea.

"We’ll see," he said. "We’re kind of taking it a day at a time. I’ll see how it feels, but I plan on playing (tonight) and seeing how it feels the next day. I’d like to play every game.

"I don’t want them to baby me more than they have already."

Polly said the shot, which he said is called a cocktail, is basically numbing the area, so his pain has been minimized. But he knows surgery is coming at some point down the line.

"The only way you fix this is by surgery," said Polanco, who is signed through 2012 and has a club option for 2013. "After the season, we’re going to do it. If it gets bad again (before the season is over), I’ll probably get another shot."

VALDEZ & MARTINEZ GET MORE CHANCES

Wilson Valdez and Michael Martinez are going to get another 15 days to show everyone just how solid they are as backup infielders.

They were needed in the first two months of the season when second baseman Chase Utley was out with multiple knee injuries.

They filled in for Polanco for nearly six weeks (25 days in July and 15 more in August) when he was out with a bulging disc in his back and a sports hernia.

And now, they'll take Jimmy Rollins' (Grade 2 groin strain) place at shortstop.

While no one likes to see those three --- all of whom have been All-Stars at least twice --- miss significant time, the rest of the guys have confidence in who's filling in.

"That’s an example of the depth we’ve got," Cliff Lee said after Monday's game. "A lot of teams if you lose those players in your lineup you’re going to see an impact. Fortunately we’ve got guys who are more than able to step in there. We’ve got depth and that’s what it takes to be a winning team, and I think we proved that [Monday].”

Manuel said Valdez will probably get a little more time at shortstop because he's played there more, but Martinez will see time as well.

ROLLINS IS OPTIMISTIC

Rollins has no plans on rushing back from his groin strain. He said he's shutdown completely until Thursday, and then he'll start doing some exercises.

"When you’re good, your body is going to tell you when you can go. You better be smart," he said.

Rollins hasn't ruled out being able to return Sept. 6, the first day he's eligible. But if that doesn't happen and he returns a little later, he doesn't think he's in jeopardy of missing the postseason at all.

"Not even close. It’s not that bad," he said. "I’ll be back September some time. When? I don’t know. Whenever I come off I want to make sure I’m solid."

Rollins had some personal goals in mind for himself, many of which he talked about in spring training. You could hear obvious disappointment in his voice when he realized many of those are out of reach now.

"Well, obviously 100 runs would be great. That’s probably not going to happen now," he said. "Twenty home runs, 30 bags minimum and try to push to 40. That’s not going to happen now."

CONTRERAS HAS ANOTHER SETBACK

Don't be surprised if you don't see Jose Contreras pitch again this season.

The veteran right-hander was throwing on Saturday when his session was cut short because his elbow was bothering him, pitching coach Rich Dubee said.

"He's still got a little bit of [trouble]," Dubee added. "It didn't go as we would have hoped."

Contreras, who had been slated to throw between 20-25 pitches, will be seen again by a doctor.

Contreras was on the DL from April 22 to May 26 with a right flexor pronator strain. He was activated, only to return June 23 with a right forearm strain.